Fashion

You might remember that I wrote two posts on the subject that dare not speak its name -Mantyhose – back on May 2nd. Well, here’s some follow-up.

Less than 30 min. after I clicked the “Publish” button on that post, it was viewed by someone in Hungary! That country – the Hungarian language to be precise – is number 5 on my top 10 list of visitors. The Hungarian version of Google regularly trolls this site looking for posts on the subject of – you guessed it – Mantyhose. Maybe I should ask my brother-in-law if there’s that certain “something” about Hungary.

And it’s not just Hungarians doing the searches. The term “you-know-what” regularly comes up on the list of recent search terms and is usually at or near the top of my list of popular search terms. Is there something I’m missing? The original post and it’s follow-up were intended to be a simple observation on male fashion and that – sooner or later – everything old is new again. I can say that this topic does have a strong and overwhelmingly “straight” following on the internet.

So, here’s a bit of commentary to satisfy all of those surfers out there who will beat a path to this blog:

The two posts about Mantyhose are among the all time top favourites on the FML blogsite. It should be noted here that the blog was originally intended for the fairer sex but has gained what appears to be a strong male following since 2008.

The first paragraph for that post reads “The masculinity of UK males could be under threat . . .” Now, leaving out the UK bit, let’s consider that statement. I suppose that some less secure males could find their “masculinity” under threat because of this but no doubt similar statements were made in the press when females began wearing slacks in the 1930’s. About 30 years before that momentous event , visitors to Elbert Hubbard’s Roycroft shops in East Aurora, NY were horrified when his wife Alice – wearing a split skirt – climbed on a horse and went for a ride. The times they do change and anyone today who suggests that females are un-feminine because they wear trousers is begging to be laughed at. If the Mantyhose trend continues, critics of the practice will probably suffer the same fate in the coming years.

An interesting tidbit gleaned from the survey cited in the FML post is that 44% of the females interviewed stated that their guys preferred tights made specifically for women rather than those intended for men. I wonder if any of the other 56% are put off by the packaging. This would make an interesting marketing study.

Finally, the following statement was made in the comments section for that particular post:

“As [Lisa,] the owner of this blog, the sex of the individual wearing the legwear is not an issue for me. Impartial is a good word to describe my views, as long as the wearer looks stylish and the article fashion related, I personally couldn’t give a fig if they are male or female.”

My next question is: “As a blogger, what do I do?” I started this blog to discuss computing technology on the consumer and user level as well as any other topic that struck my fancy. Another of the big spikes in readership are due to my posts on Macs. Maybe I should give in, buy a Macintosh and get a great pair of L’eggs.

That being said, the post I did a while back – Mens Fashion: Mantyhose – has been a big time hit. Nearly every day, I see “Mantyhose” (What a wretched name!) or tights come up in the list of search terms. Moreover, these queries are coming from all over the world.

Since this is my day for follow-ups, you may be interested to learn that the women’s legwear blog-site mentioned in my first article on this subject has released a second post on Mantyhose – the term was coined by Women’s Wear Daily – containing quotes about this growing trend from retailers, manufacturers, fashion editors, et al.

This has got to be the worse name for any product . . . Ever! Any company that uses this moniker must have a death-wish for their product. To be fair, I’ve never been crazy about the term “Pantyhose” either. Instead, I prefer the more dignified & gender neutral British term for this garment: Tights.

In the interest of full disclosure, I studied ballet in my long-lost youth so the concept of tights on men is no big deal for me.

What is different now is that instead of being a matter of male attire for dance, theater or winter warmth, they are starting to become – at least in Europe – a fashion accessory. A UK-based blog devoted to legwear recently posted about this trend-in-the-making and there are a number of forums scattered here and there around the web devoted to men and tights. There are women as well who join in on the discussions.

There are a number of reasons why men are turning to tights and they include medical ones:

Relief for muscle problems

Relief for circulatory problems

Relief for Sciatica

as well as others. Some guys find them less bulky than thermal underwear beneath their trousers Some who are on their feet all day appreciate the relief tights give for tired/aching legs. And then, there are some guys who just plain like them. Now, there appears to be another reason – fashion – as well.

On the distaff side of the aisle, there is a whole range of reactions. On one end, there are the “haters”; women who believe that tights are the work of the devil and cannot fathom why males would be interested. There is a segment of females who believe that a guy wearing tights – for whatever reason – is on his way out of the closet as well as another group who believe that hosiery for men is OK but not on their husband/boyfriend. Finally, there are those women who believe that tights are good for what ails you and think that it’s about time that men caught on to this.

It should be noted here that tights – and leotards – were originally designed and made by men for men and are just another item that ladies borrowed from the male closet and never returned. Of course, a great percentage of men are totally insecure about their masculinity and anything with even the slightest taint of femininity is an anathema to them.

However, things – and men – do change. Years ago, guys wearing earrings were a great oddity and only the bravest of the brave would dare to wear them. Today, men with earrings are so common that few of us comment on or even notice them.